A fault model can be a central piece for a prognostic system used to predict component or system degradation. A fault model may be implemented as an engineering model of something that could go wrong in the operation of a piece of equipment, which is composed of assemblies and sub-assemblies. A fault model may be used to help users or systems to identify and isolate a problem that occurs within that piece of equipment in order to make decisions with regard to equipment design, assembly/sub-assembly choice and/or design, and to formulate action plans to accommodate potential failures.
Creating a prognostics solution for a complex system is time consuming and costly. The complexity of developing a solution stems from the need to develop algorithms at various stages and levels of the system monitored. The applicability of the algorithm for one type of part varies with the operating environment of the part, manufacturing defects inherent to the part, age of the part, etc. So, even if an algorithm is developed for a system considering the build-in parts and installation of the system, maintenance of the same becomes complex, due to the factors mentioned above. Hence the prognostics solutions were less adopted or at least adopted in pockets by the industry.
Accordingly, it is desirable to create a prognostics solution that is customizable and widely applicable to a broad range of components. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.